Blower.



lPAQTmqrEl) JUNE 2,1908.

W. MUGLAVE.

BLOWER atta/wup UNITED sTATEs rfiTENT oEEicE.

WILLIAM MCCLAVE, OF SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO McCLAVE-BROOKS COMPANY, OF SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

BLOWER.

Specification of Letters Patent;

Patented June 2, 1908.

Application led September 5, 1907. Serial No. 391,495.

- and'I do hereby declare the following*l to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in blowers, and the object in view is the obtaining of" a maximum intake of air with any given amount of steam pressure.

With this and further objects view, the invention comprises proportioning a directing nozzle-relative to intake steam jets directed therethrouLgh such as to practically exactly acc'ommo ate the amount of regular 4expansionof the lines of force of the steam jets Without allowing space for back suction,

nor yet compress to any considerable extent within the nozzle the moving mass of steam and air.

The invention comprises certain other novel features of construction,combinations and arrangements of parts as Willbe hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings :-Figure l is a longitudinal, horizontal section through a blower embodying the features of the present invention. Fig: 2 is a vertical, longitudinal section taken at right angles to the plane of the section of Fig. 1, a portion o f the discharge nozzle heilig broken away. 3 is an end. view thereof. Fig. 4 is an e arged, detail, fragmentary section disclosing the clean out valve in detail. Fig. 5

- charge end whereby the discharge from the end of the nozzle was effected withnonsider is an end view ofthe clean out valve and casing. Fig. 6 is a section similar to Fig. 2. indicating a slightly modified form of clean out valve apparatus applied thereto. Fig. 7 is a View similar to Fig, 1 of a slightly modified form of construction.

In the blower art it was originally supposed that best results were -to be obtained y discharging a jet of steam through an intake hell and dischar e nozzle connected with said bell, the nozzfle tapering toward a point of connection with the bell to its disfable velocity'. 'The-difficulty with this form of blower however was found to reside in tho great amount of friction of the lines of force' of the steam with the sides of the nozzle as the steam became more and more crowded toward the end of the nozzle. To obviate this difficulty efforts have been made in the direction of flaring the discharge end ofthe discharge nozzle so as to obviate the crowding of the steam and the resulting friction The flares heretofore used, however, vhavev been carried to an extreme producing almost as objectionable a result as the crowding of the steam by leaving an annular space within the hell outside the lines of force of the steam, which space roduces a back suction. There is a materialp'difference between the lines of force of steam and the lines of the volume of steam, for theentire shell of a blower may be filled with a cloudof steam mixed with air having comparatively no force and of course the resultant discharge will not com rehend a maximum amount of air andwill t erefore not give the best ossible fresults. Only those portions of the last which are directly in line with the lines of force of the steam really are effective in .the o eration of the blower, the surrounding c oud of steam.

fiares gradually in a ratio proportionate to..

the natural flare of the lines o force of the steam so that-the present improved nozzle is adapted to accommodate at all points the said lines of force without offering any space for back suction or dead areas of steam, and at the same time the improved nozzle offers no resistance to the passage of the active steam. i

The present invention is susceptible of various embodiments, andin order that the invention may be full set forth two embodiments have been ilfiistrated in theaccompanying drawings, of which, for the purpose of the present application I A l, disclosed in Fig. 1 and the detail figures sh ll refer to that thereof as the preferred embodiment. Referring therefore to the preferred -embodi' ment as illustrated, 1 indicates then intake bell of the blower, which bell is transversely with a conduit of any preferred ty e.

circular and longitudinally tapering from its intake to its end. The inner end of the bell 1 is provided with an annular flange 2 to which is bolted or otherwise suitably secured the annular ange 3 of the conti ous or outer end of a discharge nozzle 4. lemploy the terms inner and outer ends with reference to the structure assuming the blower to be positioned horizontally, but obviously if the blower is positioned vertically with the bell uppermost, the said ends may be referred to respectively as lower and upper ends or if the occasion'should arise for using the blower in an inverted condition, reference might then be made to the said ends respectively as u er and lower ends. For the. purpose of t s description however, it is assumed that the blower is disposed horizontall with the understanding of course that the lower may be positioned in any relationship to the furnace -to be sup lied-with air .as ma be found most desira le. The nozzle 4 ares gradually to its inner end in a'ratio proportionate .to the natural spread or flare of the lines of force of steam being projected throu h the bell and nozzle, and at the inner end o? the nozzle the same is rovided with an annular flange 5 adapted or connection Within the outer end of the be 1 is ar-v ranged a hollow annulus 6 supplied with steam under pressure through a pipe 9, vthe annulus being formed elliptical in transverse section as seen'in the drawing. The inner end of the annulus is provided with a series of apertures as indicate at 7, 7 which are bored parallel to the longitudinal axis of the annulus, and as the longitudinal axis of the ann nulus is coincident with and in the line of the i longitudinal axes of the bell 1 and nozzle 4,

the said bores 7 4are parallel to the longitudinal axis of the nozzle 4, and therefore the longitudinal axes of the several jets of steam project through the aperture 7 and arallel to the longitudinal axis of the nozz e4. The bores or apertures? arespaced apart about 'the entire annulus. The an- -nulus 6 is also formed with a set of bores or apertures 8, 8, one bore 8 being disposed be'- tween each of the two bores 7, and the bores 8 being inclined so as to project converging ets of steam which meet within the nozzle 42 he circle of the apertures or bores 7 is concentric to the outer end of the nozzle 4 and of less diameter than said end, the difference in diameter being such as to accommodate the natural spread or flare of the lines of force of steam from the said several jets, the outer end of the said'nozzle havin its diameter even slightly lar er than the iameter of the column of linesof force of steam entering the nozzle so that a thin annular film of air may exist between said column of steam and the Wall of the nozzle for reventing skin friction. The nozzle 4 gra ually flares toward its inner end in a ratio proportionate to the natural spread or liare o the lines of force ofthe steam jets from-the apertures 7, and the space for the thin film o air is maintained t roughout the length of the nozzle, but is not permitted to increase in thickness, and

eddy current results. The converging jets produce lines of force of steam within the circular column of the lines of force produced by the jets from the apertures 7, and therefore the entire nozzle l4 is filled with a solid column or .piston o active lines of force of steam tak-v inwi-th them a maximum volume of air.

ommumcating of the lannulus 6 1s a tube'ljwhich extends throu h the lower Wall of the bell 1 and is rovi ed with'a removable cap 11, the cap eing adapted to be removed for the insertion of a cleamng out tool for the annulus. However, necessity for cleaning out may be largely obviated by the provision of a bleeding valve 12 varranged within a casi-ng 13. The casing 13 may be threaded directly into the connection of the pi e 10 as at 14 within the bell 1, or the said va ve'casing 13 may be threaded into an Ll5 or other suitable con nection threaded onto the other'end of the ipe 10. Whether the valve 12 is arranged within the bell 1 as seen in Fig. 2 or outside of the same, Vas seen in Fig. 6, the construction of valve and; valve casing is the same, and thereforedetail descri tion of the structure with reference partic arly to Figs. 4 and 5 is ap licable t'o both arrangements, the outside va ve' of course requirin some form of conduit pipe while the insi e valve has its dischar e taken care of through the intake bell and 'schar e nozzle.. The valve and casing are preferab y` constructed. as seen in detail in Fi s. 4 and 5 in which the casing is indicated asieing formed of a ni ple 13 in to which is threaded a second nipp e 13, the nip le 13 being provided with a valve seat 12 ihr the valve 12. Thevalve 12 is formed with the usual head and with a stem 12 extending through the nipple 13 and into the nipple 13 and is engage at its outer end by a spring 14. which presses seat, the spring resting upon radially in- Wardly extending lugs 14, 14" formed at the outerend of the nipple 13, said nipple being provided with an internal bore for accommodatin the spring A14". A lug 16 projects into t e path of movement of the valve 1,2 for limiting the inward movement thereof.

In operation, when the steam.L is iirst vadmitted to the annulus the A is comparatively low, an therefore the steam will escape past the valve 12, which is normally held olf of its' seat by the spri'g14.

with th'e lowermost point ressure thereof ytherefore no back suction or objectionable the valve away from its.

The steam continues to escape past the valve l of` pressure thereof issuicient 'to counteract t e pressure of the spring 14 12 until the whereupon the steam pressurewil seat the valve 12 against the pressure of the spring 14 and causes the said valve to retain its seat. In the meantime,it is obvious that theesca ing steam has cleaned out the scale from t e annulus which gathers there Jfrom the steam sup l pipe, thereby sto pingu the smaller jet o es. I it is desire to furt er clean out the annulus without removing the cap 1 1 and inserting a cleaning tool, itiisonly necessary to pass a rod into the inner endof the nipple 13 until it strikes the end ofthe valve stem 12 and presses the valve 12 off of its seatclean out the annulus. As soon as the'rod is removed, the valve 12 will again take its seat, and the further escape of steamvwill be prevented.

Although, as expressed above, it is preferable .to have the apertures 7 disposed in such manner that the longitudinal axes of the resultantets of steam will all be parallel to the longitu in'al axis of the nozzle 4, particularly when a high pressure blast is desired, I have beenable to obtain eiiicient results whereJ a lower pressure blast is desired by arranging the jets in such manner as to diverge as vindicated for instance in Fig. 7, the salient point being the aring of the discharge nozzle in a ratio proportionate to the natural spread or iiare of the lines of force of the steam whereby frictional resistance of the ilow 'of the steam is obviated and at-the same time no back suction is produced.

In Fig. 7 I have illustrated the intake bell 1 and discharge nozzle 4 diferingonly from the bell 1 and nozzle 4 in that the inner end of the bell is slightlyenlarged -or increased in diameter, and the outer .end of the nozzleis correspondingly increased vin diameter, and the said nozzle iiares to a greater extent. The annulus 6 is provided with a ertures 7', 7 which are inclined outwardly 'or producing diverglng'jets oi steam, but the divergence 1s only suicient for causing the lines of orce of the steam to passA along contiguous to the walls of the nozzle '4, sufiiciently free therefrom not to be subjected to lrictional resistance, the natural lateral spread or expansion of the lines of force being accommodated.

by the flare of the nozzle and such are being proportioned substantially in the ratio of the natural spread or flare of the-.lines of force of the ste-am. The annulus 6 is also provided with the bores or apertures 8 arranged for directing converging, jets for filling the centra] portion of tnelnozzlc with lines of I'ori-c steam sc asto introduce a complete compact solid column or piston containing a maximum amount of air.

The intake bell is, of course, preferably bell shaped, but obviously may,bemade in the form of a cone or otherwise as found preferable, and I wish the term bell employed throughout the appended claims to be so construed as to comprehend any ot such obvious modiiications. Furthermore, while I have described the intake bell and discharge nozzle as being formed separately and secured together, it is apparent that the two parts may be formedintegral andthe claims should be construed accordingly, it being immaterial so far as the n,operation is concerned whether the bell and nozzle are formed inte- 'gral or merely connected. together so long as the bell merges into, the nozzle and thus produces a continuous passage-way constituting,

when considered as an entirety, a4 blower duct to which may be connected any desired Jform of conduit for delivering the blastto any oint preferred.

hat I claim is 1. In a steam blower duct, the combination of an intake long discharge nozz e, the intake portion conortion and a relativelyv verging inwardly for some distance and then.

merging into the discharge nozzle which discharge nozzle flares longitudinally away from the merging point its entire length, a hollow annulus disposed within the intake ortion, and means for supplying the annuus with steam, said annulus being providedl with two series of discharge openings for steam jets, one series discharging in lines which keep the longitudinal axes of the several jetsparallel with the longitudinal axis of the discharge nozzle, the iare of the discharge nozzle being in a ratio proportionate f to the expansion of the lines of force of the said steam jets, the other series of jets being directed in converging lines toward the longitudinal axis of the nozzle.

2. In a steam blower duct, the combination of an intake long discharge nozz e merging into the inner end thereof, and flaring longitudinally from the oint of merger throughout gits entire lengt a hollow annulus disposed within the intake portion, means for supplying steam to the annulus, said annulus being provided with two series of discharge openings of steam, one series discharging in linesconverging to the longitudinal axis of the discharge nozzle, and the other series of jets ortion and arelatively discharging in lines adapting the outer sides of their ex anding lines of force to conform substantia y to thc longitudinally flaring lines of the `discharge nozzle for the entire length thereof.

3. In a blower, the combination with an' intake bell, of an annulus formed for discharg- A ing steam into the bell, means for supplying/,

steam to said annulus, a valve casing open to the atmosphere and eommunlcatmg with sald. annulus, said casing bemg formed with an internal bore, a sprmg disposed within blower duct, of anvannul'us adapted to discharge into the bell, means for supplying steam to said annulus, a valve casing communicating with the annlus and opening to the atmosphere, a Valve within said casing, a spring normally main taining said valve open, and means adapted to ap ly the pressure of the steam to close the val ve when the pres- .sure of steam exceeds the spring pressure.

5. The combination with an'intake steam blower duct of an annulus formed for discharging steam into the bell, means for supplying steam to said annulus, a valve casing communicating with said annulus and open to theatmosphere and formed with a valve seat, and a valvewithin said casing adapted' to prevent escape of steam when held upon its seat b steam pressure, a spring for moving the va ve inwardly when the steam pressure falls below the tension of the spring, and means to limit the inward movement of the valve.

6. In a steam blower tion of' an intake portion, and a relatively long dischargin nozzle merging with the inneriend thereo and flaring longitudinally from the oint of merging throughout its entire lengtii, a hollow annulus dis osed in the intake portion, means for supp ying steam to the annulus, said annulus being provided with two series of discharge openings for steam, one series ldischarging in lines converging to the longitudinal axis of the dis charge nozzle, and the other series of jets discharging in lines adapting the outer side of their ex anding lines of force to conform substantialiy to the longitudinal flaring lines ofthe discharge nozzle for the entire length thereof.

7. In a steam blower, a discharge nozzle adapted to discharge a series of jets of steam within and conforming to the periphery and flare of an outwardly laring duct-extension, circular in cross section, maintaining substantially an air-wa)T of uniform thickness between the extending lines of the steam jets and the inner periphery of the duct extension.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

" WILLIAM MoU/LAVE.

Witnesses:

W. W. BAYLoR, D. J. DAVIS.

duct, the combina- 

